May 18, 2003

In modern times, wars are not fought on battlefields but on media channels which reach every household and individual, all across the world, and shape perceptions, opinions and actions. The war in Iraq was perhaps the best example of how the media can make or break a product, person or perception

THE Americans who have taught the whole world the concept of selling and marketing seem to have forgotten the basics themselves. President Bush has completely failed in his attempt to convince the world that the war was justified. His marketing campaign to win the “hearts and minds of the Iraqi people” seems to have backfired. His intended image of a saviour of the world has instead been perceived as an arrogant executioner who is hell-bent on exerting ruthless power to get what he wants, while Saddam, whom he wanted to be termed as a tyrant, has actually started symbolizing heroic resistance to the hegemony of the United States.

Let us see what was missing from Bush’s marketing campaign and try to analyse the flaws in his media strategy which may have caused this setback.

Selling vs marketing: One of the basic reasons products or ideas fail is because the people planning their launch do not understand the difference between marketing and selling. Most organizations in the world first produce a product or an idea based on what they think is right for the market and then launch. The result is that many times the market rejects the offering due to its incompatibility with their needs and wants. The organization finds that out when it is already in the market and has invested a lot of resources in trying to promote the product. Thus, you will see many organizations trying to “sell” products by offering discounts and other incentives, and sometimes going to all limits to somehow convince the market that what they are offering matches their needs. Such forced selling and incentives may raise the demand for a short period of time, but eventually leads to total rejection by the market.

A true marketing approach requires that the organization must first carry out a market research on what the needs and wants of the target market are, and then make a product matching those needs and wants. This will ensure that the offering is not just based on the biases and preconceived notions of the producer, but actual needs of the market. Such products or ideas which are fulfilling the needs of the market when launched are received with open arms by the market, as they find them fulfilling their needs accurately. This leads to the famous concept of customer satisfaction.

In the case of the Iraq war, the battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people campaign, America made the same fundamental mistake of using the selling rather than the marketing approach. They never really tried to find out that maybe the package that they are offering has some features which may instantly cause rejection in the target market. Once they stepped in the market with their brand of freedom, they were surprised that the Iraqis rejected their offer despite the heavy incentives of a free and liberated culture improving their life — a case of a myopic US vision.

Let us examine and see the other flaws that are present in their marketing and media strategy which was responsible for the failure of their plans in Iraq.

Brand name: Choosing the right name for the product or campaign is crucial to the success of the offering. History is full of examples where a bad or offensive name has overshadowed the actual goodness of the product or service. Keeping the objective of winning the Iraqi people in mind, the name chosen for the campaign was highly inappropriate, i.e. Shock and Awe. Such a name brings negative images of aggression, of being treated with disdain and arrogance and images of considering the Iraqis totally overawed by the might of the US military force. In fact, such a brand name has encouraged people to retaliate in kind by describing the American action as “shocking and awful.”

Slogans vs action: One cardinal rule to gain credibility and trust of the market is by delivering on your promises. The Americans expected the civilians to actually rise against the Iraqi regime and side by the US army. They may have achieved this objective had they not themselves backed away from their promises. Life for the civilians has now become a living hell. Food and medicine supplies have become a rarity, thanks to American bombardment and destruction. Looting and destruction has severely angered the Iraqis.

Salesman quality: To promote any idea or product, an organization has many different channels of communication and promotion. The more the salespersons are able to understand the market needs and able to communicate effectively the benefits of the product or idea, the more they will be able to build up a relationship with the market and achieve their objective. In the case of Iraq, the sales force is the Allied soldiers. They have completely failed to build up a rapport with the people of Iraq. The British forces have fared worse than the American forces as they are definitely unable to relate either verbally or physically with the Iraqis. Their attitude is typically trite and insensitive to the emotional and physical needs of the Iraqis. The reckless and heartless firing of seven women and children on a checkpoint was responsible for completely alienating the civilians from the allies forces.

Targeting different market segments: The success of any product or idea is dependent on how well it has been adapted to the requirements of different market needs. As far as Bush is concerned, he had three separate target markets to whom he had to sell the idea of war. The first was the American public, the second the international community, and the third the Iraqi people. The American people are by and large educated and highly concerned about security. Thus, the strategy adopted by Bush to appeal to their patriotic and security needs was justified. He effectively used TV and radio to constantly empahsize the danger Saddam represented in terms of usage of weapons of mass destruction, as well as his links to Al-Qaeda in trying to gain public support for war. Using the same appeal to the international community who have evidence from the United Nations inspectors that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, was the mistake of not adapting your product to the different market needs. Had he tried to sell the idea of war by getting some evidence of his claims for the international community, he may have been able to get their support.

Conclusion: Whether it is a product, service, idea or a person, the principle of successful objective achievement are the same, i.e. understand the market needs, do not let personal biases affect planning, understand the market perception and behaviour and then adapt your offering to their requirements. When you measure Bush’s strategy against these principles, it is easy to see why he was successful in getting support in America, while failing in other parts of the world. Being an American, he understands the average American’s concerns and needs, but being a typical American, he has completely failed to understand the rest of the world.

Bush’s inability to understand the psyche of the other markets is going to result in a rising rejection rate of his policies and plans, and is eventually going to erode his image as the super power of the world. That is what is known as Marketing Myopia i.e the minute you take your eyes off the customer and start focusing on yourself, you lose market control, and inevitably your leadership position.

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